Supraśl (; ; ) is a town and former episcopal see in

Białystok County Białystok County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Podlaskie Voivodeship, north-eastern Poland, on the border with Belarus. It was created on 1 January 1999 as a result of the Polish local government refo ...

, in

Podlaskie Voivodeship Podlaskie Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in northeastern Poland. The name of the voivodeship refers to the historical region of Podlachia (in Polish, ''Podlasie''), and significant part of its territory corresponds to th ...

, in north-eastern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It is the seat of the

Gmina Supraśl __NOTOC__ Gmina Supraśl is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Białystok County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. Its seat is the town of Supraśl, which lies approximately north-east of the regional capital Białyst ...

. It is situated on the Supraśl River, about northeast of

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...

. Its population is 4,526 (2004).

History

The settlement was founded in the 16th century. After the

Third Partition of Poland The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polis ...

in 1795, it was annexed by

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

. In 1807 it passed to the

Russian Partition The Russian Partition (), sometimes called Russian Poland, constituted the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that were annexed by the Russian Empire in the course of late-18th-century Partitions of Poland. The Russian ac ...

of Poland. In 1823, a 10th-century manuscript, the oldest Slavic literary work in Poland, named the ''

Codex Suprasliensis The Codex Suprasliensis is a 10th-century Cyrillic literary monument, the largest extant Old Church Slavonic canon manuscript and the oldest Slavic literary work located in Poland. As of September 20, 2007, it is on UNESCO's Memory of the World l ...

'', was discovered in the Supraśl Monastery by Michał Bobrowski. After 1831, the textile industry developed. In 1834 manufacturer Wilhelm Fryderyk Zachert came from

Zgierz Zgierz is a city in central Poland, located just to the north of Łódź, and part of the metropolitan area centered on that city. As of 2021, it had a population of 54,974. Located within the historic Łęczyca Land, it is the capital of Zgie ...

to Supraśl and significantly contributed to the development of the village into a town. Until the mid-19th century, it was the largest center of the textile industry in the region, before it was surpassed by nearby

. In the 19th century, mostly Catholics lived there, but also Protestants, Orthodox and Jews. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

from 1915 to 1919 it was occupied by the Germans. After 1919, in independent Poland. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

it was occupied by the

Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

from 1939 to 1941 and by the Germans from 1941 to 1944. The Soviets destroyed part of the monastery's interior, and the Germans destroyed most of the industrial plants. From 1944 to 1998, it was administratively located in the Białystok Voivodeship. In 2001 Supraśl was recognized as a

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, Ba ...

Ecclesiastical History

* On 6 March 1798 was established the Ruthenian Catholic

Eparchy Eparchy ( ''eparchía'' "overlordship") is an Ecclesiology, ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. An eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the administra ...

(

Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

Diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

) of Supraśl / Supraslien(sis) Ruthenorum (Latin adjective), on presently Polish territory not previously served by that

particular church In metaphysics, particulars or individuals are usually contrasted with ''universals''. Universals concern features that can be exemplified by various different particulars. Particulars are often seen as concrete, spatiotemporal entities as opposed ...

''sui iuris'' (

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...

Ruthenian language Ruthenian (see also #Nomenclature, other names) is an exonymic linguonym for a closely related group of East Slavic languages, East Slavic linguistic Variety (linguistics), varieties, particularly those spoken from the 15th to 18th centuries in ...

Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI (; born Count Angelo Onofrio Melchiorre Natale Giovanni Antonio called Giovanni Angelo or Giannangelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to hi ...

papal bulla A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden seal ('' bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal bulls have been in use at l ...

''Susceptam a Nobis di papa'', thus canonically executed its erection, which was devised by the Prussian kingdom (Fredrick William II) in January 1797 for the parts of the Eparchy of Brėst and Archeparchy of Kiev that became Prussian in the

Third partition of Poland The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polis ...

. The Pope made it exempt, i.e. directly subject to the Holy See, not part of any

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

, and installed a

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

comprising a provost and four canons. * It was suppressed on 1809.02.14, without Catholic successor, by imperial edict of the Czar

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (, ; – ), nicknamed "the Blessed", was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first king of Congress Poland from 1815, and the grand duke of Finland from 1809 to his death in 1825. He ruled Russian Empire, Russia during the chaotic perio ...

, annexing it to the Eparchy of Brest, after the Convention of Bartenstein (April 1807) and

Peace of Tilsit The Treaties of Tilsit (), also collectively known as the Peace of Tilsit (; ), were two peace treaties signed by French Emperor Napoleon in the town of Tilsit in July 1807 in the aftermath of his victory at Friedland, at the end of the War of ...

(July 1807) transferred its territory from Prussia to the Russian empire. It has had only three incumbents : ;''Exempt Eparch (Bishops) of Supraśl of the Ruthenians'' * Theodosius Wislocki,

Basilian Order of Saint Josaphat The Order of Saint Basil the Great (; , abbreviated OSBM), also known as the Basilian Order of Saint Josaphat, is a Greek Catholic Church, Greek Catholic monastic order of pontifical right that works actively among Ukrainian Greek Catholic Chu ...

(O.S.B.M.) (1797 – death 1801.05.18) * Nicholas Duchnowski (1803.05.16 – death 1805.06.25) *''

Bishop-elect A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

Father Leo Jaworowski (1807 – 1809 not possessed lacking confirmation by Rome), next

Auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of Eparch Jozafat Bułhak in Brest and

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

Volodymyr Volodymyr (, ; ) is a Ukrainian given name of Old East Slavic origin. The related Ancient Slavic, such as Czech, Russian, Serbian, Croatian, etc. form of the name is Володимѣръ ''Volodiměr'', which in other Slavic languages became Vladimi ...

.'' Supraśl is also a

titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

of the

Polish Orthodox Church The Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church (), commonly known as the Polish Orthodox Church, or Orthodox Church of Poland, is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches in full communion. The church was established in 1924, to accommodate O ...

Demographics

Culture and heritage

It is the home of the Supraśl Lavra, founded by

Aleksander Chodkiewicz Aleksander Chodkiewicz (, , ; ca. 1475 – 28 May 1549) was a Ruthenian noble from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, founder of the Supraśl Orthodox Monastery. He inherited vast possessions from his father Ivan Chodkiewicz, which made him 11th we ...

, one of six Eastern Orthodox monasteries for men in

. The Codex of Supraśl, the oldest

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

literary work Literary work is a generic term for works of literature, i.e. texts such as fiction and non-fiction books, essays, screenplays''.'' In the philosophy of art and the field of aesthetics there is some debate about what that means, precisely. What a ...

and one of the oldest of its kind in the world, is named after the Supraśl Lavra. Since September 2007 it has been on

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Memory of the World UNESCO's Memory of the World (MoW) Programme is an international initiative to safeguard the documentary heritage of humanity against collective amnesia, neglect, decay over time and climatic conditions, as well as deliberate destruction. It ca ...

list. The Museum of Icons is located in the Chodkiewicz Palace within the monastery complex. Other historic landmarks include the Buchholtz Palace, which now houses the Art High School, the Catholic churches of Our Lady Queen of Poland and of the Holy Trinity, the town hall, cinema, a 19th-century park and historic wooden architecture. File:Pałac Buchholtza w Supraślu.jpg, Buchholtz Palace File:Suprasl kosciol NMP Krolowej Polski 1.jpg, Our Lady Queen of Poland church File:Supraśl Dom ludowy 01 Al.JPG, Cinema File:Supraśl pałac opatów.jpg, Chodkiewicz Palace File:Pomnik Suprasl park 01.jpg, Monument to the Polish victory in the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

in 1920 in the city park File:Supraśl Pałac Buchholtza - wozownia 01 Al.JPG, Coach house of the Buchholtz Palace

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Supraśl is twinned with: *

Nature

Supraśl is surrounded by the Knyszyn Forest Landscape Park.

Transport

Supraśl is connected to the regional road network, primarily via

Voivodeship road According to classes and categories of public roads in Poland, a voivodeship A voivodeship ( ) or voivodate is the area administered by a voivode (governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed sinc ...

676 __NOTOC__ Year 676 ( DCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 676 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...

, which links the town to

. Public transport is primarily provided by bus line 500 (including variant 500A), operated by PKS Nova, offering regular hourly connections to

. Although Supraśl does not have a railway station, the nearest major rail hub is located in Białystok, approximately 16 km to the southwest. The town is also accessible by bicycle routes and is known for its pedestrian-friendly layout.

References

Sources and external links

Official town webpage

; Bibliography - ecclesiastical history * Augustin Theiner, ''Die neuesten Zustände der Katholischen Kirche beider Ritus in Polen und Rußland seit Katharina II. bis auf unsere Tage'', Augsburg 1841 * Konrad Eubel, ''Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi'', vol. 6, p. 389 * Alfred Ignatowicz, ''Greckokatolicka diecezja supraska (1796–1807)'', in "Wiadomości Kościele Archidiecezji w białymstoku" 1976, r. 2, nr 4, pp. 105–116. * Radosław Dobrowolski, ''Opat Supraski Biskup Leon Ludwik Jaworowski'', Supraśl 2003, p. 333. * Nikolaj Dalmatov, ''Supraslskij Blagowescanskij Monastyr'', St. Peterburg 1892, p. 611. * Gaetano Moroni, ''Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica'', vol. 71, Venice 1855, pp. 76–78 * Leonard Drożdżewicz, Overheard in Suprasl Academy, „Znad Wilii”, Viešoji įstaiga „Znad Wilii” kultūros plėtros draugija, ISSN 1392-9712 indeks 327956, nr 1 (81) z 2020 r., pp. 91–97, (in Polish)http://www.znadwiliiwilno.lt/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Znad-Wilii-1-81m-1-1.pdf * {{Authority control Białystok County Cities and towns in Podlaskie Voivodeship Populated riverside places in Poland